The present invention concerns a rifle grenade and, more precisely, the cartridge tube which is disposed at one end of the said grenade whereby it can be placed on the barrel of a rifle.
The cartridge tube of a rifle grenade contains a bullet trap according to prior art which, by stopping the bullet, allows the grenade to be fired by means of any kind of munition and in particular a live cartridge.
The deceleration of the bullet by the trap generates metal fragments (such as pieces of the bullet casing) and these fragments are ejected in the direction of the firer when the grenade leaves the barrel of the rifle.
These fragments are ejected even more violently when an additional propellant charge is placed in the cartridge tube. Attempts have already been made to limit or prevent such ejections by placing a plate made of elastic material at the entry to the bullet trap.
Reference may be made for example to French patent 1599746 which describes a bullet trap on which a plate made of an elastic plastics material is placed. The plate is penetrated by the bullet and closes again immediately thereafter, thus preventing fragments from being ejected towards the firer.
French patent 2517820 also describes a bullet trap for rifle grenades which incorporates a steel trap with a washer made of a damping material arranged inside a support tube. The trap is closed by a woven nylon cap the function of which is to protect the firer against the bullet fragments and which is tightly fitted or bonded to both the cartridge case and the trap.
Experience shows that these solutions are unsatisfactory and that bullet fragments are still projected out of the cartridge tube.